Originally Posted By: desolation
Originally Posted By: Arney

Certain consumer staples like bottled water, rice, milk, and toilet paper are in short supply in Tokyo and stores have begun limiting how much people can purchase at once. That's pretty shocking for the capital city of one of the wealthiest countries in the world, and at this point, no one really knows when the situation will be alleviated.


Just in time delivery rearing it's ugly head. No one should be surprised by the shortages. It's the system we've demanded to keep it cheap. It's why you prepare.



Washington, D.C. area supermarkets are typically mobbed when there's merely a forecast of snow. Can only imagine what it would be like if the forecast was for radiation. West Virginia, here we come. Take me away country roads.

Doubtful the grocery situation would have been any better fifty years ago. My family lived in Los Angeles during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 and I recall my parents saying grocery stores were depleted at the height of it. I remember Nana talking about filling the closets with bottled water.

It's the "Just-In-Time" mentality of individuals that puts people and their families at the mercy of groceries' inventories.

Supermarkets, and the corner groceries, can only hold so much and plan for normal consumption, not crises and panic.

Yep, Japan ought to be a big wakeup call to individuals everywhere, not just in earthquake-prone areas. I'm still pummeling my Oregon-based sister's e-mail with earthquake preparedness information.

In searching for data on the average Japan (and Tokyo) home (storage capacity for preparedness) and typical grocery stores, I came across this news on Wal-Mart's contributions to Japan's disaster recovery. Evidently they have a significant presence there.

http://walmartstores.com/pressroom/news/10558.aspx

Walmart was also mounting a full scale operation to get additional relief supplies into Japan. The supplies include 95 tons of water, acrylic blankets, tents, warm clothes, fleece, portable toilets, flashlights, batteries, and other necessary relief items.